19 January 2006

Press Statement

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

Nuclear Separation Plans : Make Them Public

The Manmohan Singh government had submitted its proposal for separation of civilian and military nuclear facilities to the United States government in December 2005.  Talks are being held currently in Delhi with the United States on the separation plan.  In the United States, the Indian proposal has been circulated to  representatives in the US Senate, the House of Representatives and think-tanks. 

In contrast, the proposals have not been made public in India.  There is no information whether the US is taking the steps it had to take as part of the reciprocal terms in the agreement.  There are reports that the United States has set out further conditions and made new demands beyond the terms of the July 18, 2005 agreement arrived at when the Prime Minister visited Washington.

It is surprising that on such a vital issue, the government has sought to keep political parties, Parliament and the nuclear scientific community in the dark.

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) demands that the government immediately make public the proposals under discussion with the United States.